The ’Wiching Hour: Bullfrog Bagels’ The Natitude

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The Sandwich: The Natitude

Where: Bullfrog Bagels, 1341 H St. NE

Price: $9

Bread: Choice of plain, onion, sesame seed, poppy seed, salt, or everything bagel

Stuffings: Hot pastrami, Swiss cheese, dijon mustard sauce

Thickness: 3 inches

Pros: Bullfrog Bagels are D.C.’s best—chewy inside with plenty of seeds for extra seasoning. Their flavor, which isn’t overtly yeasty, provides the perfect base for the house-cured, thinly sliced pastrami piled on top. Served warm, the pastrami with slightly crisp edges that add a pleasant crunch, is equally salty and smoky, making for a delicious nosh.

Cons: If you wait too long to dig in, the hot pastrami melts the Swiss cheese and makes it congeal slightly, dulling the flavor and
giving it a gummy texture. The sodium-rich sandwich could also use a bit more acidity; the dijon sauce lacks the mustardy tang
pastrami requires.

Messiness (1 to 5): 2. Melted cheese seals all the ingredients together, but the pastrami gives off enough grease to make your fingertips slightly slick. Hold on tight and stock up on napkins.

Overall score (1 to 5): 4. The Natitude contains just enough meat, cheese, and bagel to fill the void left by Tyler Clippard’s departure. Bring these bagelwiches to Nats Park and the snaking line at Shake Shack will get shorter. Just remember to grab some mustard from the hot dog stand.

Photo by Jessica Sidman